Dean of Life After Lawrence Career Services Initiative

Job description

Lawrence UniversityAppleton, WI

Dean of Life After Lawrence Career Services Initiative

Lawrence University (www.lawrence.edu) seeks a new Dean to implement the recommendations of its recently convened Task Force on Life After Lawrence, whose final report followed site visits to four national liberal arts institutions noted for their career-services innovation and an external review conducted by two leading career services professionals. Lawrence now seeks to build a campus culture focused on the future, where all students find early and continuing opportunities to explore life after Lawrence across every area of their college experience. The new Dean will lead efforts (1) to help students of all backgrounds to achieve their highest potential in their chosen direction through ongoing, customized engagement and common training in interview techniques and workplace skills; (2) to enhance collaboration among Lawrence alumni, faculty, career and student life staff; (3) to link more intentionally academic and career advising; (4) to grow and strengthen relationships with core employers; and (5) to improve undergraduate preparation for graduate and professional schools. The Dean will lead discussions to formulate a new name, more accurately and distinctively reflecting the purview of the operation, for the Office of Career Services at Lawrence.

Reporting directly to the Vice President of Student Life, the Dean will initially supervise an existing professional staff of five, while partnering with colleagues in Admissions, Academic Affairs, the Office of Student Life, Alumni & Constituency Engagement and Development to ensure effective use of resources, messaging and achievement of common goals in support of Lawrence University and its students. A re-organization in the Student Life division will bring additional directors overseeing community service and fellowships under the supervision of the Dean. Also, with new endowment funds for career services a top priority of the upcoming capital campaign, Lawrence plans to grow the career services staff to allow for greater collaboration and output. The Dean will have the opportunity to support both liberal arts majors and conservatory musicians in their life after Lawrence career exploration and post-graduate placement.

Lawrence University is a national liberal arts college that uniquely integrates a residential college of liberal arts and sciences and a conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Founded in 1847 through the perseverance of frontier ministers and Massachusetts philanthropists, Lawrence was one of the first-coeducational colleges. Lawrence has been an avatar of liberal education, while constantly reshaping its academic program to embrace the changing contours of knowledge and emerging perspectives on the nature of higher learning. Two of its twentieth century presidents went on to Ivy League presidencies. Today, Lawrence is one of only 65 American institutions that meet the full demonstrated financial need of every admitted student. It was selected for inclusion in the book Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. The last four graduating classes have reported a 99% placement rate within six months of Commencement.

The Appleton campus, situated on 84 acres above the Fox River in Eastern Wisconsin, contains 60 instructional, residential, recreational and administrative facilities. Björklunden vid Sjön, Lawrence’s 425-acre northern campus, is located on Lake Michigan in Door County, Wisconsin. Lawrence also maintains a London Centre in the Bloomsbury neighborhood of the United Kingdom’s capital city. The University’s student body of 1,500 students, drawn from nearly every state and more than 50 countries, is served by 165 full-time faculty members.

Qualifications: Lawrence seeks an articulate, confident, resourceful and self-directed individual who is—or who will quickly become—a field-leading liberal arts career development officer. Candidates with experience in university career services, corporate university relations, human resources, alumni affairs, institutional advancement and professional services are equally welcome. A graduate degree is preferred. A minimum of five years of progressive professional experience is required, preferably involving undergraduates and/or recent graduates, as well as employers and/or alumni. Demonstrated skill in fostering new institutional relationships, marshaling professional and volunteer networks, staff supervision and development, budget management and strategic planning, are essential. The ability to engage faculty, trustees and senior administrators, to counsel creative, diligent, professionally ambitious and service-minded students, and to cultivate and steward alumni and parents, is required. Facility with developing effective assessment methods, articulating strategic priorities, and a capacity and appetite for fundraising, are essential. The successful candidate will have a record of working effectively with persons from diverse backgrounds and the ability to promote an inclusive campus and community culture. Lawrence encourages applications from individuals who will help create a more inclusive campus by: (1) further diversifying the staff; and/or (2) demonstrating experience with successful diversity-related initiatives.

Review of candidate materials will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. A complete application will include a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae or résumé and contact information for five professional referees who can speak about the candidate’s qualifications for this position. Expressions of interest, nominations and inquiries should be directed to Lawrence’s search consultant, Mr. Chuck O’Boyle of C. V. O’Boyle, Jr., LLC, at [email protected], who will furnish a detailed specification upon request.